WBCS Syllabus 2023: Prelims, Mains Syllabus | WBCS Syllabus PDF

WBCS syllabus 2023 is set by West Bengal Public Service Commission (WBPSC) for the West Bengal Civil Service (WBCS) examination. Candidates who take the exam should check the syllabus before beginning their WBCS exam preparations. As already stated, the syllabus is divided into three stages, Prelims, Mains and Interview/ Personality Test. Hence, it is important to qualify for each stage, which can be attained through proper knowledge of the WBCS syllabus.

The syllabus of WBCS for Prelims is for 200 marks, while Mains varies for Group A, B, C and D posts. To get detailed knowledge about the WBCS syllabus for the Prelims and Mains exam, aspirants should download the WBCS syllabus pdf we shared below in this post. 

WBCS Syllabus 2023 - Overview

To enhance the preparation for the WBCS exam, we have provided aspirants with the WBCS syllabus pdf. This shall help them know the topics for each subject and the WBCS exam pattern for Prelims, Mains and Interviews. Aspirants must also ensure to save the syllabus pdf on their device for easy access to it.

>> WBCS Syllabus PDF

Aspirants must go through the syllabus PDF to thoroughly understand the important topics for each exam stage.

WBCS Prelims syllabus consists of only one objective type of paper. The paper consists of General Studies for a total of 200 marks. The Prelims are held only for the purpose of screening out candidates. The selection of the candidates is only on the Mains and Interview marks. The WBCS syllabus for Prelims has 8 sections with 25 questions in each section.

The syllabus for WBCS Prelims has English, General Science, Indian National Movement, Current events of National & International Importance, Geography of India with special reference to West Bengal, History of India, Indian Polity and Economy and General Mental Ability.

WBCS Prelims Syllabus - Subject Wise

Below aspirants can check out the important topics for each subject of the WBCS Pre syllabus.

English Composition: Vocabulary tests, Synonyms, and Antonyms, Phrasal Verbs, Idioms and Phrases, One-word substitution, Homophones, Fill in the blanks with proper parts of speech

General Science: Understanding of science, General Appreciation, Including matters of everyday observation and experience as may be expected of a well-educated person who has not made a special study of any scientific discipline.

History of India: It shall include questions from ancient, medieval, and modern India. For this, candidates can use NCERT books as a reference.

Geography of India (a reference to West Bengal): Main features of Indian Agricultural and Natural Resources, Physical Geography, Social, and Economic Geography, Geography of West Bengal

Indian Polity and Economy: The polity syllabus questions Panchayati Raj, Planning in India, Community Development, Political System, Indian Constitution, etc.

Indian National Movement: Since this is an important part, hence, has questions on the growth of nationalism in India, the Nature and Character of the 19th Century Resurgence, the Indian Independence Movement, the Revolt of 1857, etc.

General Mental Ability: This subject tests a candidate's basic arithmetics. The important topics included are logical perception, natural conclusion, understanding, etc.

The candidates who obtain the WBCS cut off marks will be admitted to appear for the WBCS mains exam. The WBCS syllabus for Mains has 6 papers in total. Paper 1 and Paper 2 are conventional/descriptive in nature. On the other hand, Papers 3, 4, 5 and 6 are objective in nature. The papers included in the WBCS Mains syllabus are Bengali/ Hindi/ Urdu/ Nepali/ Santali, English, General Studies 1, General Studies 2, Indian Constitution & Indian Economy and Arithmetic & Reasoning. Apart from this, there shall be two optional papers, Papers 7 & 8, only for Group A and B posts. Below aspirants can check out the syllabus for Mains.

The Mains exam for the WBCS syllabus has optional papers for Group A and B posts. The candidates can select any of the subjects out of the 37 subjects.

WBCS Syllabus - List of Optional Subjects For Mains

Here is a list of optional subjects for the Mains exam for the WBCS Syllabus. Aspirants can select the papers as per their knowledge and expertise. This is a crucial paper that will be a deciding factor for the marks candidates will score.

The last round of the WBCS syllabus forms the WBCS interview/personality test. Candidates qualifying for the Mains exam shall be called to appear for the interview. The selection of the candidates shall be based only on their marks in the Mains and Interviews. The marks for the interview vary for Group A, B, C and D categories of candidates. The candidates appearing for Group A and B posts will be marked out of 200. For Group C, it is 150 marks; for Group D, it is 100 marks.

Candidates should know about the difference in the WBCS syllabus for the Prelims and Mains exams to create a preparation strategy for both stages. Prelims shall have only objective questions, while Mains shall have some papers that are objective, while some are subjective. Here is the difference between the two stages:

Below aspirants can find out the best books for the WBCS syllabus. The following books are the subject-wise books for the exam: